3 out of 4 stars
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Poems to Live by! by Cynthia Aholelei is a book of poems surrounding a variety of issues. Each poem gives some insight into the author’s views and opinions of the world. It also contains advice on how to overcome drawbacks in life. This book provides a lot of positivity and encouragement to its readers. It’s a great reminder to take a step back and appreciate the beauty in life, even when circumstances get overwhelming.
Aholelei doesn’t merely focus on a single theme in her poetry collection. Rather, she encompasses a multitude of subjects. Some of the topics that the poems in this book center around are abuse, friendship, motherhood, and morality. Each poem has a candid quality to it, making it a very realistic reading experience. Aholelei uses many literary devices, including motifs, metaphors, and personalization, to help the reader embark on a journey with her. She takes us through many stages of life, both good and bad. The book comes full circle by the end, giving the reader a sense of hope for both the author's future and their own.
My favorite thing about this poetry collection was how raw and powerfully written these poems were. I felt like I was getting to know the author on a deeply personal level. Not only that, but I also found most of the poems relatable to my life. Aholelei touches on some very universal concepts. Some of her poems focused on the hardships and negative aspects in life. However, there were others that encouraged strength and resilience amidst the pain. There was a consistent balance through the entire book, which I really liked. The book was only 24 pages long, which made for a quick, yet profound read.
My main problem with this book was the grammatical mistakes that I caught as I was reading it. There were some cases where I was unsure whether the errors were intentional or not. However, I did find over ten instances of missing commas and typos. They were pretty distracting to me. For example, the first poem has a line that goes, “Captivating you victim, you attempt a fierce vicious bash to the face.” Mistakes such as these take away from such a thought-provoking piece of work. This poetry book would definitely benefit from another round of editing.
Overall, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The poems have an undeniable quality to them. Yet, this may not be a good pick for those who are not a particular fan of poetry. This is a great book for anyone who is going through a rough time and needs some uplifting words. It’s also a good choice for those who enjoy poetry as well as inspirational books. Unfortunately, there were too many grammatical errors for me to give it a 4 out of 4 rating.
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Poems to Live by!
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